Monday, 7 March 2016

Doctor Who Vs. James Bond, Part 6

Another Bond film season continued on ITV yesterday withRoger Moore's fourth stintas the famous MI6 agent. Moonraker, the eleventh entry in the franchise, was based on the spy novel of 1955, itself adapted from Ian Fleming's own potential film treatment. Shot primarily in France, the production wasEon's most expensive to date (the budget of $34 million was almost double that of The Spy Who Love Me), but the movie became the highest-grossing Bond film until GoldenEye. Bernard Lee made his eleventh and final appearance here as M, and Richard Kiel returned as Jaws. Shirley Bassey again performed the title song, her third after Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever.Bond's next cinematic assignment was released 1981. The film took its title from Fleming's Bond anthology (published in 1960), and contained elements from the short stories For Your Eyes Only andRisico. The feature was shot on location in Italy, Spain, Greece, the Bahamas and the North Sea, with interiors filmed at Pinewood studios. The theme song by Sheena Easton (nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe) replaced original choice Blondie. Both films featured a total of twenty-two Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

MOONRAKER

Peter Bennett (assistant director here and A View to a Kill; unit manager on For Your Eyes Only; and location manager on Octopussy) was the first assistant director on fourteen revived series adventures (from Bad Wolf to The End of Time, and Attack of the Graske), the production manager on four other stories, then produced thirteen further instalments (from The Beast Below to The Zygon Inversion) and Torchwood: Children of Earth

Terry Forrestal (Space Fighter here; stunts on Octopussy, Never Say Never Again, A View to a Kill and Goldeneye) was a Tractor Driver on K9 and Company

John [aka Juan] Moreno (Ferrara) was Dobson in (episode 2 of) The Ambassadors of Death

Laurie Goode (Skier) was a Mutt in The Mutants (1), Time Lord in The Invasion of Time (3), Bandit in The Creature from the Pit (1), Tigellan in Meglos (2), Sailor in Enlightenment, and UNIT Trooper in Battlefield (1)

Elizabeth Waller was the costume designer on The Robots of Death too

Anthony Waye (assistant director here and Octopussy; production manager on A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill, Skyfall; producer on Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) was assistant director on both Dalek features

Gareth Milne (stunts here and Skyfall) was George Cranleigh in Black Orchid, a Mortuary Attendant in Vengeance on Varos (2), and doubled for Peter Davison on Warriors of the Deep (1)

Stuart Fell (stunts here, Octopussy and A View to a Kill) was a stuntman on Terror of the Autons (1) and The Ribos Operation (1), then fight arranger on The Talons of Weng-Chiang and State of Decay, and had roles in thirty-three other episodes (from The Claws of Axos to The Invasion of Time)

Nick Wilkinson (stunts here, Octopussy, Never Say Never Again and Licence to Kill; Russian Soldier in The Living Daylights) was a stuntman on The Next Doctor too